


Epiphenomenon

by Parapines



Category: Gravity Falls, ParaNorman (2012)
Genre: M/M, Parapines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-09
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-15 23:13:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parapines/pseuds/Parapines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Norman looked down at the table-cloth. He felt guilty. It wasn't his fault what had happened but he could help uncover who had… But this was a new kind of scary. He took a deep breath.</p>
<p>“Mom… Mr. Abney.“ He pressed his palms together and laced his fingers, if it was a silent prayer for courage or just something to hold onto Norman himself did not know. “He said… it wasn't an accident.“</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossover time guys (never actually thought I'd be writing one to tell the truth!).
> 
> This story has a bit of a build up, but will get to Dipper soon enough. Third person focusing mostly on Norman's perspective so far. Critique appreciated (chapters are not yet Beta'd, apologies).

It was stupid, it really was. But he hadn't thought too hard about it at the time.

It was just one stupid fight, but it had brought up so many bad memories and Norman knew it wouldn't be the last time. It hadn't really been the first if he was honest with himself. It had just been the first time he'd yelled back.

His father had been good about things for a few months after what happened when he was eleven, 5 years ago now, but he couldn't really manage to completely change. It would still bother him when Norman spoke to things he couldn't see.

\--

Norman had been unaware of it until about until about five months after "the night of the witch" as the townspeople now called it. He'd come home from school and seen their former neighbor Mr. Abney, who had fallen off his own roof and met an unfortunate end the day before.

“Hello.“ Norman had greeted the spirit who had appeared between their lawns. He was sitting, not facing Norman.

“It wasn't my fault.“ Said the dead man, his head cocked to the side at a weird angle. Norman blinked at him, used to the fatal injuries ghosts tended to sport, but feeling a little uneasy at the words.

“Someone else was on the roof.“ The ghost’s eye line stayed fixed on the roof of his former house, the area below had only this afternoon been cleared of caution tape as the local law enforcement wrapped up their quick investigation. “it wasn't an accident.“

Norman wasn't completely clueless about these things, he knew many of the ghosts he came into contact with had been murdered. But they were never this blunt about it because, he guessed; they knew he was only eleven.

Mr. Abney, newly dead and possibly still reeling from the trauma did not seem to notice. He continued to sit there, not speaking unless Norman spoke first and only repeating variations of what he had just said.

Norman eventually left his side and continued into his house.

“Hello, you took a while, out with Neil?“ His mother greeted him, taking his lunch box from his hands and turning back to the dishes.

“Well, for a bit, but I ran into Mr. Abney on the way home…“ Norman wasn't really sure if he should talk about the conversation. Mr. Abney seemed to know his death was not an accident but he didn't say who the second person had been. He sat down at the table and rested his chin in his hands.

“Oh.“ His mother said, her voice soothing, taking her a second to remember yesterday’s accident. It was obvious she didn't know what else to say.

“Mom…“ Norman began. “Um, did the police, find anything?“ He asked.

“They were here for a while.“ His mom answered, not pausing in her dish washing. “But it was just an accident. They only stayed so long at Mrs. Abney’s insistence.“

Norman looked down at the table-cloth. He felt guilty. It wasn't his fault what had happened but he could help uncover who had… But this was a new kind of scary. He took a deep breath.

“Mom… Mr. Abney.“ He pressed his palms together and laced his fingers, if it was a silent prayer for courage or just something to hold onto Norman himself did not know. “He said… it wasn't an accident.“

The dish his mother had been washing dropped back into the sink with a splash.

“Don’t scare your mother like that!“

Norman turned to see his father standing in the doorway to the living room and his posture shrank a little, facing the table. He hadn't heard that tone for a while now.

“If the police said it was an accident Norman. It was an accident.“ Norman looked up again at his father who had come across the room to stand beside his mother.

She was looking up at him with a frown, but meek as always.

“I know but, he said t-that…“ Norman stuttered. “That it wasn't an accident.“

“Then what was it dear?“ His mother asked in a light tone, contrasting the atmosphere of the room.

“He said there was a second person…“

“The police looked for evidence of foul play and found none.“ His father cut him off. “And I doubt that a dead-man’s testimony would be accepted in court.“

“But he said that it…“

“No buts Norman, I won’t have you making a fool out of Sheriff Hooper with this nonsense, go to your room.“ His tone was just below a yell and Norman hurried to comply, escaping the kitchen without another word.

He shut the door and vaulted into bed, using a pillow to try to block out the sound of the almost-fight brewing downstairs. His father’s near yelling and his mother’s meek and quiet responses.

He almost wished Courtney was home and not at practice, now that his Grandmother was really gone (having mistakenly believed the calm would last). He hated it. He really, honestly, hated it. It was going back to just as it had been before, and there was nothing he could do.

He stood up and went to the window. The sun was just on the verge of setting but he could still make out the figure of Mr. Abney sitting in the dark, staring up at the roof he had fallen from.

There may be nothing he could to help himself, but he could still help someone else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he horsed around with neil on his way home from school it was obvious Norman had completely forgotten what had been bothering him that morning.
> 
> Until they reached his house.

The day after, Norman had gone to the police station and asked to see Sheriff Hooper in private, and she had listened with a kind ear and sent him on his way with  an assurance that they would re-examine the case

And surprisingly… they had. 

\-- 

Despite not finding any more evidence the pressure of the investigation caused another neighbor to tell the Sheriff they had seen someone around the area the morning of the incident— and by the time a week had passed it was uncovered that the murderer had actually been someone on the force who was manipulating evidence to hide his own trail.

To say it had caused an uproar was an understatement and Norman had to admit to himself it was more than a little scary that there had been a murderer on the police force, and that there had been a chance he could have gone to him by mistake with his warning.

But as he glanced out the window at the now empty spot he’d seen Mr. Abney sitting at the week before he found he was glad he’d been able to help. 

“Bye Mom, I’m going now!” Norman called down the basement steps to where his mother was folding laundry as he tied his shoes and grabbed his bag to head to school.

“Have a good day sweetie, don’t forget your lunch!”

There seemed to be less ghosts then usual on his way to school but it may just have been because of the commotion caused by the case. There was some sort of press conference today for all the reporters that had come to Blithe Hollow over it. Something like this was apparently big news, and even the dead sometimes got curious over a gathering.

Norman wasn’t sure why so many people were interested. He dealt with ghost all the time sure, but murders weren’t something he liked to think about. Not unless they were obviously, cheesily, fake and playing out in technicolour on the living room television with bargain bin sound effects. 

Real murders, well, they made him think of Agatha and how unfair it all was. 

“Hey! Careful there kid.” A voice called out.

Norman looked up to see he’d almost walked smack into a tree, Harriet’s tree to be precise.

“Sorry!” Norman blushed a little in embarrassment.

“What’s got you so thoughtful this early in the morning?” The former heiress straightened her shoulders, as much as she could anyway with them still strapped into her parachute harness. 

“Nothing, really…well.” Norman sighed, talking a little to Harriet couldn’t do any harm, he had left pretty early this morning anyway.

“I was just thinking about some things, um, have you been hearing about…?”

“The murder you mean?” Harriet interrupted. “It really has caused a stir around here, what with the criminal being on the force. It hasn’t gotten as much attention as my accident  did mind you (that had coverage for months and months, I was quite popular), but more of a commotion then most things, it’s sure to be making national headlines.”

Norman sat down under the tree and nodded along as Harriet babbled, it took awhile before he had a chance to speak again. Harriet liked to gossip and she seemed pleased the current gossip was something Norman would actually listen to.

“I haven’t been able to go see myself, tethered as I am.” Harriet laughed. “Many of the others have flocked to the court house, even those without much interest in the events. Something to do I suppose.” She cocked her head to the side and glanced down at Norman, “So was it that you meant? I forgot to ask.”

“Yes, I was just thinking about it. The victim was my neighbour and well, he came back…”

“Oh dear,” Harriet said, “I heard that they’ve caught the one responsible though, but everyone is wondering how exactly, could it be that you…” She trailed off, glancing down at him, figuring out from his expression her guess was on the mark.

“That’s what’s troubling me actually.” Norman said. “I- I’m just a little worried about, well…”

Norman couldn’t exactly put into words /why/ he was worried. Mr. Abney was able to crossover and the man responsible would be brought to justice. It just… felt sort of like he’d gotten too close too something. Something scarier then ghosts, or witches, or zombies. 

“I’m sure you’ll be alright, it was the right thing to do.” Said Harriet, reassuring him. “I rather doubt it’ll bring any bad karma your way.”

“I, guess you’re right.” Norman smiled  up at her with his signature lopsided-grin. Harriet had more than a few other things to say and he politely listened, being the only one she could talk to as all the others seemed to be, as she had said, away at the courthouse. He only left when he was positive dallying longer would make him late, waving goodbye. Happy she’d taken his mind off things for awhile.

It was probably silly to be worrying anyway, it wasn’t like Sheriff Hooper would tell anyone he was involved. Like his father had said ‘a dead man’s testimony’ wouldn’t hold up in court. The closest he’d get to being mentioned to do with the case would probably be an “anonymous tip” if they acknowledged outside help at all. He breathed a sigh feeling calm. Harriet was right, he would be fine.

“Norman Babcock?” A voice intruded on his thoughts and Norman whirled around to see a man in a three-piece suit standing a little way down the sidewalk. Norman’s heart began to hammer as his pulse picked up. 

“I’m not suppose to talk to strangers!” He called out, turning around and walking quickly in the direction of his school and trying not to show fear as he heard the man’s footsteps following.

“I just wanted to talk to you for a minute!” The man called and Norman sped up out of instinct, booking it down the sidewalk until he reached the school yard. He didn’t really stop until he was inside the building at his locker. 

“Who was that guy?” Norman had never seen him before for sure. Blithe Hollow wasn’t the smallest place but it wasn’t very big either, and the man had more of a west coast accent too which was a dead-giveaway he was from out-of-town. But how could someone from out of town know is name? Norman shrugged off his jacket and pressed his palms to his eyelids and tried to breath more slowly.

“Heeey, Norman my man!” Norman had just taken his books out for class was pulled into a ‘friendly headlock’ which thankfully only lasted long enough for Alvin to rustle his hair. 

“Morning Alvin.” Norman rubbed his neck. Alvin’s ‘friendly’ headlocks hurt only slightly less than the ones he used to get given.

“So I heard you’ve got a fanclub now.” Alvin said, his hand going to Norman’s shoulder to drag him along at his faster walking pace. Norman wasn’t all that happy about how touchy his new ‘friend’ was but well, if it got him out of a beating he could deal with it. But wait, what had Alvin said?

“A fanclub?” Norman wasn’t sure what that could mean.

“Yeah, a couple of those reporters been askin’ questions ‘bout you.” Alvin said, projecting his voice probably in the hope that some girls might overhear his exciting revelations. “Looks like the press has finally figured out about your awesomeness.”

“Reporters have been…what?” Norman suddenly couldn’t think straight. There was no way, no way no how. Why would anyone be interested in him now? The zombie incident had been chalked up to a freak storm and no one seemed to be interested in trying to convince those who hadn’t been there of the truth. Why would anyone be interested in him now? 

“Didn’t you hear?” Alvin said, his voice even louder then before. “This morning the police told the press they’d got a tip from ‘a local medium’ and thats why they’d decided to keep investigating that big case.” 

Norman slipped out of Alvin’s grip. A ‘local medium’. If someone asked around it wouldn’t take long for them to find out about him. This wasn’t good. He didn’t want this kind of attention from strangers, and his father would be angry.

“You okay? Too exciting for you?” Alvin said, his concern coming off as a bit feigned. Norman realized he must have spaced out for a bit.

“Yeah. fine.” Norman replied, a bit of a lie actually.

Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. After all, it had just been that one guy asking and Alvin was known to exaggerate. Plus from what he had experienced for most of his life people weren’t likely to believe in much that was abnormal. 

“Ahem.” Salma cleared her throat from the classroom door to get his attention and Norman glanced up at the hall clock. The bell was about to ring. 

“Morning!” he called and hurried past her to his desk, just before Mr. Feynman arrived (timed perfectly with the ringing of the school bell, as usual) and started roll call. Alvin barely made it through the door and got a harsh look from their teacher as he made his way to his own seat. 

It was shaping up to be a fairly average day, science was boring as they seemed to be going through the same material as the week before to make up for the low class average on their biology test, and gym was as horrible as ever (at least Norman thought dodgeball was horrible, some of the other kids seemed to enjoy it).

Lunchtime was more fun the usual of late though now that he had Neil and Salma to sit through it with.

As he horsed around with neil on his way home from school it was obvious Norman had completely forgotten what had been bothering him that morning.

Until they reached his house. 

“Whoa, is there a crowd on your lawn?” Neil asked at the both stopped a few houses short of Norman’s yard, which was crawling with people at the moment, a few even had cameras.

“Shh.” Norman  motioned for Neil to follow him and crouched behind a bush.

“Hey, isn’t that lady from the local news?” Neil pointed out in hushed tones. “Why would she be at your house? Did you win a contest or something?” 

“Mr. Babcock we only want to talk.” Said a loud voice. Norman recognized that west coast accent and peeked out from his hiding place, sure enough the man from this morning was knocking on the front door. 

“I’ll call the police if you don’t get off my lawn right now!” His father yelled back, not opening the door. Norman cringed. 

“I don’t think its a contest.” Norman finally answered, “I should probably sneak in around back, I’ll call you later okay?” 

Neil looked concerned but nodded, and Norman hopped the neighbour’s back-fence, sneaking through a few more yards until he was able to sneak into his own from the other side. 

He knocked on the back door, bracing himself. The curtains moved just slightly, and then his mom pushed open the door, ushering him in with a suspicious look to the outside.

“Norman, are you alright?” She sounded worried. “I don’t know what happened I just came home from shopping and there were people everywhere!” 

“This isn’t acceptable; I have rights!” His father’s bellow echoed through the house.

“Perry calm down.” His mother said and his father walked back to where they were standing.

“I can’t calm down, there’s a mob on the lawn asking questions about all this psychic mumbo jumbo!” He sat down at the table and took a deep breath as his mother set a glass of water down in front of him. Norman tensed a bit.

“I saw that press conference this morning.” Norman’s father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why didn’t you stay out of it like I said Norman?” He asked. 

“Because, well…I.” Norman stuttered out, rubbing his arm. He wasn’t sure how to explain himself, he hadn’t meant to trouble anyone, he never thought what he’d done would bring any kind of attention. His father eyed him evenly.

“I needed to help.” Norman said finally. “and… I was the only one who could.” There was more noise from the front door.

“Well, I hope it was worth it then.” His father sighed and brought the water glass to his forehead, his reply dismissive.

Norman almost preferred the yelling, when his father sounded so disappointed. His insides felt all twisted up.

 Another knock and calls for a statement about something Norman only half heard echoed through the front hall.

 ”Go away! No comment!” His father yelled.

 “Maybe if you didn’t yell back at them dear—” His mother began.

“Sandra they’ve been here for hours, I don’t think ignoring them will work.”

Norman retreated to the living room where Courtney was watching MTV, closing the door on his parent’s argument and the sounds from the front door.

“Hey dork.” Courtney greeted him, somehow the term coming out sounding like an endearment. 

“Hi.” Said Norman, curling up at the edge of the Sofa where Grandma used to sit, hugging his knees.

“Good job catching that criminal.” Courtney patted his head and Norman looked up, a little bewildered, not expecting that at all.

“Thanks.” He felt a little lighter, and settled in to watch tv with his sister.

 


	3. Interlude i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude i: Piedmont California

It was hot out, much too hot for pre-summer weather. Dipper groaned and got up from where he'd been sitting. It wasn't that he couldn't take the heat, but it had just come on so suddenly. He began to head towards the kitchen for something to drink, keeping his nose buried in a magazine.

"Whatch'a readin'?" The voice came from much too close and Dipper was so startled he tripped over the edge of the throw rug in front of him. He landed hard on his backside and looked up in time to see Mabel set two glasses of lemonade down on the coffee table, picking up the magazine he'd let go of in his surprise. 

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Dipper got to his feet and tried to snatch it back but she anticipated his maneuver and side-stepped, grinning.

"Oh it's just one of your dumb occult magazines," She squinted at the cover and frowned. 

"They aren't /dumb/." Dipper said as he grabbed the copy of Spectral Times from her hands and flipped through it, trying to find the page he had been on. He really did like his occult magazines. It was true the stories could sometimes be kind of cheesy but now that he had seen so many unbelievable things in Gravity Falls even the really over the top articles seemed like they could be plausible.

"Because 'The Bloodthirsty Llamas of the Night'," Mabel attempted to say in a 'dracula' voice as she pointed to the title of the article he was on, "Isn't dumb at all." 

Dipper ignored her and leaned against the arm of the sofa. Even if he agreed this particular article was a little less than credible agreeing would be giving in. He finished it defiantly but decided to stop going through it in order and turned the pages in search of one of the better sounding articles when he finished.

"Oh, wait go back!" Mabel said all of a sudden.

"What?" Dipper questioned, turning the pages back curiously until Mabel pointed out what page she meant.

He looked down at it. A kid around their age was in the photograph, but he didn't look like he wanted to be. He hadn't managed to turn enough to the side or raise his hand enough to block his face from the photographer but it was obvious he'd tried. 

"11-Year-old Medium Solves Massachusetts Murder." Mabel read the title out loud. "I saw this on TV a while ago, well they talked about it a bit anyway." She explained, jumping up onto the sofa and swinging her legs excitedly. 

"Medium, like a psychic?" Dipper questioned, skimming the article. "Mabel, why would you be interested in the fakest story here?" It put him in mind of Gideon and left a bad taste in his mouth. Gideon had only turned out to have that amulet, not "innate ability". Dipper still hadn't found any evidence for people with psychic powers even with all that had happened to them in Gravity Falls. 

"What?" Mabel said, sticking her tongue out. "He solved a really big crime and put someone really bad in jail, he couldn't do that if he was a fake."

"11-year-old Norman Babcock has been well known in his hometown of Blithe Hollow Massachusetts for most of his life, at a young age it became apparent he had the ability to see and communicate with the dead and would do so quite regularly." Dipper read the article aloud, "So he's like Cole Sear or something?" He rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey, you said you saw ghosts before." Mabel pointed out, neglecting to mention she hadn't even believed his story about the ghosts at the Dusk to Dawn until Wendy had backed him up.

"Yeah, once. It's different than seeing them around everywhere all the time." Dipper replied, still skeptical. 

"Well /I/ think he's real." 

Dipper shook his head at her and retreated upstairs to his room snagging one of the glasses on his way by.

Despite how dismissive he was acting though he ended up reading the rest of the article anyway. It was kind of weird, it didn't have an interview with the kid in question or the family but had a few blurbs from people claiming to be neighbors of the family here and there. Dipper wasn't sure if that made it more or less believable: they at least didn't seem to be phony fame-seekers, but maybe it was just a lie that had gotten really out of hand and they were too embarrassed to set the record straight.

Dipper thought the details sounded pretty interesting though. With an officer manipulating evidence at a small department it was almost a perfect crime but somehow an 11-year old kid had blown it all wide open. It would have been impressive as a detective story but Dipper wasn't fond of detective stories where the catch-all explanation was psychic powers. He skipped to the next article and eventually managed to stop thinking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone was wondering about the timeline I have some notes.
> 
> ((I don't actually know when Paranorman takes place)) Scratch that. I know now it's early to mid october just before the leave start changing (yay dvd extras!).
> 
> Norman helping with the Abney case takes places a little over 5 months later in March. This chapter is around the April/May mark. I still have no idea what Norman's birthdate is, so I'll take a liberty here and say it is sometime between so by Summer he will be 12. The Twins are 13 and will be returning for their second summer in Gravity Falls.


End file.
